What is perhaps the longest running gag in the comic started right here. The Wily behind-your-back joke and its variations have been used more times than I care to count and this was the very first one.

My thinking was that, as a typical villain, Dr. Wily probably announces his plans to the audience before actually carrying them out, something of a Shakespearian soliloquy, if you will. But what if someone was within earshot and heard the entire villainous plan?

Luckily for Dr. Wily, it seems as though the people who overhear his plans never bother to do anything to stop him. But it sure was fun setting them up.